The Missing Hokage: Path to greatness
by Shadow Pheonix47
Summary: PH's CHALLENGE!: when an injured Naruto brings back Sasuke, the council pounce on the opportunity to be rid of him. but when their plans are changed what will they do? and who's this genin that seems to know everything about Naruto? read to find out...
1. a cold reception

Heres my attempt at Perfect lionhearts Missing Hokage challenge, I hope to write much about this, but that will decided by the amount of reviews I get. Even flames are welcome. Though I would like you all to remember this is a Fan fiction so I can have the story pretty much however I want, it WILL NOT be exactly like the show/magna. Enjoy!

\^o^/

_**The Path to greatness is littered with obstacles, trials made to test us. Do we have what it takes to overcome them, to prove our worth? To fight for our dreams when we only have nightmares, to protect who we love when they only give hate, to smile and laugh when we just want to die. Perhaps, but that can only be answered by the one taking the test.**_

_**Us. **_

The heavens poured relentlessly as two boys lay unconscious at the foot of a valley. Kakashi sighed to himself as he jumped down to them from the tree line, closely followed by his ever loyal and favorite summon Pakkun. They stood over the two boys for a moment before Kakashi picked up Sasuke and turned to leave.

"Hey" said Pakkun in his gruff voice, "what about Naruto here?" Kakashi never even looked back at him as he jumped out of the valley and out of sight. Pakkun growled angrily, like every dog, Pakkun had a strong sense of friendship and loyalty, what Kakashi just did was an obvious disregard to them both. Pakkun let out a growl, _that's it, his favoritism for that Uchiha boy and his ignorance of the other two students were bad enough before hand, THIS is plain bullshit, and he didn't even make a clone. _Pakkun touched a hidden seal on his shoulder and the largest dog in his squad and a dog with a summoning contract appeared.

"Hey, Spike, grab Naruto here and take him back to Konoha, I'll follow you shortly" Pakkun ordered. the named dog nodded and, after picking up Naruto, jumped away.

"What are your orders for me?" asked the dog with the scroll

"tell the boss that _Kakashi_ is to be removed from the contract" said Pakkun. The other dog raised an eyebrow at the disdain for Kakashi, as Pakkun was his favorite dog.

"What Happened?"

"He left Naruto here to die while he took the defecting Uchiha boy that had been knocked unconscious back to Konoha" growled Pakkun, the other dogs eyes darkened, he nodded before disappearing.

Pakkun left and quickly caught up to Spike and Naruto. He explained what happened and after getting the same reaction they maxed there speed to get Naruto to safety.

_20 minutes later at Konoha_

"I order you to let us GO!" yelled a soaked Tsunade as she threw yet another ANBU away with her super strength, Shizune also struggled next to her to be free of there captors. Kakashi had returned less than two minutes earlier, as soon as they had been alerted they had run towards the gates in disbelief of Kakashi's statement

FLASHBACK

"Kakashi!" yelled Tsunade as the other doctors ran to treat Sasuke, "where's Naruto?"

"He's dead, so I left him at the valley of the end" said Kakashi in a monotone voice. Tsunade and Shizune froze for half a second, not knowing whether to be burst into tears or kill Kakashi and Sasuke. They instead almost smashed through the hospital's automatic door as they ran towards the front gates.

FLASHBACK END

They finally broke free of the ANBU at the front gates when two figures jumped out off the darkness and landed in front of Tsunade and Shizune. They screamed out when they saw Naruto and immediately began treatment. Pakkun ran to the nearest ANBU and growled to get his attention.

"go get some medics to help out here, then bring Kakashi to me" he said quickly, the ANBU nodded and Shushined away,10 seconds later he returned with a team of medics and Kakashi. The medics hesitated when they saw the injured person was Naruto, but went to help because otherwise the Tsunade would have there heads, and there balls. Kakashi looked down at Pakkun and the other dog Spike, he crouched down to talk to them but they had other ideas, ideas like mauling him. He managed to replace himself with a branch and panted as he bled from many scratches and bites.

"What the hell was that for?" yelled Kakashi as he dodged a second attempt by the dogs.

"those who don't follow orders are trash, those who abandon their comrades are worse than trash" growled Pakkun angrily "you are worse than trash, come on Spike we are leaving, and by the way ass hole, your off the summoning contract" he then disappeared in a puff of smoke, as did Spike. Kakashi was wide eyed, he tried to summon someone but nothing happened, he swore to himself and shushined away to check on Sasuke.

**Three days later **

Tsunade sat at the head of the council as they finished the normal administrative jobs.

"okay" said Danzo, "two more things, first, we of the civilian council wish for you to temporarily dismiss Naruto Uzumaki as a Ninja" Tsunade twitched before she blasted them with KI, scaring the crap out of all but Danzo and a few clan heads, some of which were also releasing KI.

"Why the hell would I do that" she growled, Danzo smiled back at her.

"Simple, with him temporarily out of action he has no source of income" he answered, all smiles and friendly. "if he were to become a civilian than he'd qualify for the orphans allowance, that way he'd have the money to pay for rent and other necessities until he's able to support himself" Tsunade looked down at the man before her, _hmm, I KNOW he's up to something, he's never liked Naruto in the slightest, infact, he wanted to make Naruto a weapon, if Sarutobi's files are correct. He's probably doing it to get on my good side, though he does have a good point. _Tsunade sighed to herself.

"alright, but I will personally test and reinstate him when I think he's ready" said Tsunade, Danzo handed her a form and she signed/stamped it before handing it back "Naruto Uzumaki is now a Civilian, effective immediately" Danzo nodded before he produced another piece of paper and signed/stamped it himself before announcing loudly.

"Last thing today. We of the Civilian council have ordered the execution of a Civilian" gasps were heard from around the room.

"Who and for what?" asked Tsunade curiously, she flicked through her mind for any incident recently when a glaringly obvious one hit her even as he was saying it.

"For causing the defection of and seriously injuring a Konoha Shinobi, and the last loyal Uchiha, we have voted and will execute on the 10th, Civilian Naruto Uzim*gack*" Danzo never finished as he was slammed into a wall with Tsunade's hand around his neck. The ANBU in the room tensed but weren't dumb enough to interfere.

"Give me one reason NOT to snap your neck" she said dangerously, Danzo gulped and said the only thing that could get him out alive.

"Because even if you do the order will still go through, but I believe that I can over rule the civilian council without causing problems, how about we exile him" Tsunade sighed and knew he was right, she dropped him and nodded. She couldn't really do anything at the moment but she'd think of something.

"very well, but let him stay for 3 days after he is fully recovered so he can get what he needs and say farewells, go do that and I'll break the news to him" she said sadly, Danzo bowed and left, barely suppressing his anger at having his plans stopped, he'd soon fix that though. Back in the council room there was a stunned silence before it broke into an uproar, the Nara, Inoichi, Chouza, Inuzuka, Aburame and even the Hyuuga clan heads outraged at the council's underhanded tactics to get rid of Naruto, someone who had helped, befriended or had something in common with each clan.

"I understand your concern more than anyone" Tsunade sighed, "but unfortunately there isn't too much I can do right off the bat, Naruto will live, but this will probably tear him to pieces. I'll let him know that you protested this so he knows that he has friends he can talk to" the clan heads nodded and Tsunade Shushined away to see Naruto.


	2. a change of plans

Tsunade turned over in her sleep; it was 2 days until Naruto was going to be 'officially' exiled and Tsunade couldn't sleep as she remembered all that had happened.

TIMESKIP (backwards)

Naruto nodded slowly as Tsunade finished. He was trying not to let his emotions through, it wasn't really working. He sighed and pulled on his shirt, he grabbed his pouch and turned to leave, Tsunade grabbed him and spun him around "what are you doing?" she demanded.

"I'm getting ready to leave" he said in a monotone, Tsunade was taken aback by his coldness and he turned again, eyes lowered "I saw this coming, didn't know when but I knew it would come. I know what I'll need and I know where to get them, I'll have to use my henge again but at least I'll be able to afford more than moldy bread" he started to leave again but Tsunade grabbed his shoulder and shushined them out of the hospital. Naruto looked around and found himself outside of the wolf claw weapon shop, he looked up at Tsunade and she smiled sadly.

"I'd read about the whole 'won't sell demon boy things' through the thirds files, he couldn't do anything without causing trouble but I do know that here at least they should sell you what you'll need. I gotta go do some stuff, when I get back I'll pay for everything that you need, cya soon" Tsunade shushined away and Naruto sighed before walking into the shop. A bun-haired girl looked up at him from a counter and waved.

"Hey, welcome to the wolf claw weapon shop… um, what's your name again? Naruto or something?" she asked politely, Naruto nodded and she continued "thought so, I'm Tenten, good job on Neji by the way, after that fight he got rid of half the stick up his ass" Naruto couldn't't help it, he burst out laughing and Tenten joined him, when he recovered he sighed again and pulled a list out of his pouch and placed it on the counter.

"Umm, if it's alright, I kinda need the stuff on this list" he said, Tenten picked up the list and read over it curiously. There many mistakes that made his words only half comprehensible, but being a weapon/supplies shop it was easy as pie to figure what he wanted, She stood and started to collect the things on the list, but kept on talking.

"So what's all this for anyway? If you weren't't a genin I'd swear it's a real long-term mission" Naruto thought about his answer for a second, but decided to simply tell the truth because he wasn't going to be around.

"Council's exiling me" he said coldly, Tenten almost dropped the box of kunai she had and she looked at him suspiciously. He sighed and ran through what the council had done, at the end Tenten was furious, and she slammed the box of soldier pills she'd collected down on the counter, almost busting open the box.

"Why the hell would they do that to you? You brought back that Uchiha they love so much; they should be praising the ground you walk on, what the FUCK is wrong with those retarded bastards" she yelled, shocking Naruto, an even bigger shock came for both of them when a voice said.

"Wow, never heard you swear before" they both looked over and Tenten blushed.

"Well, dad, they, uh...." she was silenced by her father as he waved his hand

"I know, I heard it all. Hell, most of the village is about to have a party cause of it, by the way Naruto, the names Dustin" Naruto nodded to Dustin, but Tenten was just angry and confused

"What's going on? Why would everyone be happy Narutos exiled, and why did the council do it?" she asked, Naruto sighed and said.

"You know about the Kyuubi attack, right? *nod* what happened and what they say happened are two different things" Tenten raised an eye brow curiously "the Yondaime couldn't't kill Kyuubi cause its immortal, so he made it mortal through human sacrifice. He gave his soul to seal it into a new born baby. I was that baby, and most of the entire village thinks of me as the Kyuubi, that's why I was beaten, abused, avoided, hated, had over 2000 assassination attempts before I graduated and sold nothing but the worst quality of everything at five times the normal price" Naruto looked away as he finished venting.

Emotions flew through Tenten, shock, anger and hate all among them, but she settled on sadness, before she even realized it she had come up behind Naruto and wrapped her arms around him, Dustin smiled sadly and silently left. Tenten felt Naruto stiffen in her hold and felt another pang of sadness as she realized how few people must have shown him affection. She gently rested her head on his shoulder and felt him slowly start to relax, they stood like that for almost a minute before Tenten felt a tear splash onto her arm. She released Naruto and walked around in front of him, before gently wiping another tear off of his face; He slowly looked up into her eyes and whispered.

"Why? Why do you care?" Tenten stepped forward and embraced him again, setting her chin to his left shoulder.

"Because" she said quietly "you've taken so much and you still had a smile on your face, because I know the difference between you and the Kyuubi. I care because I know you deserve to be cared for" Naruto wasn't expecting the hug, and was completely amazed at what she thought of him. Tenten released him and lead him over to a sofa, they sat together and Tenten held Narutos hand gently, "so, do you need to talk about it?" Naruto didn't't know what to say, so he started from the beginning, he didn't't feel like he had to hide anything from her so he told her all about his life. He finished after almost an hour, Tenten sighed as she leaned on Narutos side, head on his shoulder again.

"What are you thinking?" Naruto asked her, Dustin chose that moment to come back into view, a sour look on his face. It was easy to tell he'd heard most of what Naruto said.

"I was wondering if my dad would want to come with me when you and I leave this Kami forsaken village" replied Tenten, Naruto and Dustin's eyes widened and Naruto managed to say.

"But why?"

"Because, I don't wanna live in a village that can't tell the difference between a scroll and what's inside of it" she said angrily "and even if dad doesn't come with me, and you refuse to let me go with you, I will leave this village" the other two gasped as she undid her head band and dropped it on the floor, before she got a glint in her eye and snuggled up really close to Naruto and said in a cute voice "you don't want me to go out there alone do you? I'd be so lonely, and an easy target for attacks"

Naruto had turned red and shook his head 'no' slowly; Dustin found it hard not to laugh. However two other Kunoichi did laugh. Everyone looked towards the sound and found Tsunade, Shizune and an angry looking Hinata, who was glaring at Tenten, standing there. Tenten removed herself from Naruto and smiled at the new arrivals politely

"Sorry Hinata, it was just too good of an opportunity" Hinata blushed a bit, her anger dissipating, and nodded meekly, meanwhile Dustin had introduced himself and his daughter to Tsunade and Shizune.

"So, to what do we owe the honor of this visit?" Dustin asked politely, Tsunade motioned toward Naruto and smiled sadly.

"I'm assuming that he's told you about the banishment?" She received two nods of acknowledgment "anything else you tell Tenten? Naruto?"

"If your referring to Kyuubi, then yes , she knows" Tsunade was a bit surprised that he'd told her, but she could see that he really didn't care about it, that he would think nothing of it to announce it to the whole village (even though almost everyone almost knew, except the younger generation)

"well I think you should tell Hinata here all about it, because she wants to leave with you as well" Naruto almost fell of the chair in shock, but decided to simply tell her than ask why, but before he could hinata stutteringly declared.

"um.. i a..a..already know a..about the K..Kyuubi" they all looked at her in surprise and she blushed before pushing her fingers together "I..I heard S..some of the i..insults people had s..said to him, A..and also h..heard some villiagers t..talking about i..it"

Naruto was floored, two girls that knew about the Kyuubi, and they were willing to leave their villiage with him. HIM. The villiage pariah, Naruto thought that if he were to die before he left the villiage than he'd be a happy man…. Well, AFTER he became hokage, but now that he was being banished, those chances were extremely slim. More so than before.

"well" said Dustin finally "I guess I'd better get things ready to go, then" Tentens eyes lit up, but that quickly changed to embarressment as he proclaimed "I'd better be along to make sure that nothing inappropriate happens to my little angel" Now, having been Tentens father, he knew what kind of reaction to expect, so when he leapt out into the back room, it was with good reason, as 20 unsealed shurikan and kunai hit where he had just been, as a scream of 'DAAAAAAAAAD' was followed by racious laughter at Tenten and Naruto's expense.

"don't worry" Tsunade called after him, "me and Shizune will make sure nothing inappropriate happens" naruto blushed furiously, as did Tenten, but he picked up a small bit of information that Tenten missed in her embarresment. Naruto was good at that, like when he pointed out the bandages Lee wore on his arms weren't a fashion statement (and one could tell Lee DEFINITELY didn't have any fashion sense, anyway, back to the actual story)

"wait a second" Naruto exclaimed loudly "YOU"RE coming with us?" Tsunade and Shizune nodded and he almost cried. Suddenly so many people cared, about HIM. "well, uh, thanks!" Tsunade ruffled his hair and smiled.

"well, I had a talk with Shizune here, and we decided that you were probably the ONLY reason we came back here" she turned to Hinata, then to Tenten and said "I also figured that I could take Hinata, who has near perfect control, and Naruto, who has the reserves to do a lot of operations without rest, as medic apprentices. One more couldn't hurt I suppose" Tenten leapt up and almost suffocated Tsunade with the force of her hug, her dream had always been to be on par with her idol Tsunade, and if she was going to be trained by her than she was almost guaranteed it. when she had finally settled down Tsunade regarded her soon to be apprentices.

"Alright, now I want no one to speak of any details about Narutos banishment to anyone. You may tell them why he is being banished, and if Naruto doesn't mind you can tell those who don't already know about the Kyuubi. You may inform your team mates and team leaders of the truth and you're leaving, but they must tell no one, including their families."

"Tenten, it would be better not to inform Neji as he will probably tell Hiashi and he'll be a thorn in my ass. Make any preparations you need before hand and if there's anything you need to buy than you can charge it under the villages Ninja mission funds. Anyone who questions you than tell them it's for a mission and that you are not aloud to tell details. If they still press it then tell them to take it up with me, I meanwhile, will be busy and you may not see me till we leave, we have 3 days starting tomorrow" And with that, she and Shizune shushined away.

"Well that was informative" said Tenten sarcastically. Naruto grinned at her and Hinata, while said Hyuuga blushed profusely, they sat quietly for a few minutes before Tenten asked. "SO, Naruto. You mind if we let people know about Kyuubi?" Naruto merely shrugged and answered.

"They won't really be around to pass judgment on me so I suppose it's alright. At least then they'll know why I got banished" he sighed before he announced he had things to do. Tenten sealed his stuff and ten minutes later (after a small conversation that started on the question "how do I unseal it?") had two young Kunoichi VERY unhappy at the academy instructors because they had, for lack of better words, shit all over his and their education. Not only that, but the villages hate had even stopped him from learning outside of the academy, not even being aloud into the public library.

"well anyway, I have to go, see ya soon" said Naruto, his usual happy go lucky mask back on. He left the store and decided to go do some training at the team training grounds. It was usually pretty deserted, and right now he felt like being alone.

"so, when you gonna ask him out?" asked Tenten straight after Naruto left. Hinata blushed, but there was more than embarrassment in her eyes, there was sadness.

"well" she answered, "t…to be honest, I…I think I shouldn't" Tenten's jaw almost hit the floor, everyone but Naruto could tell that Hinata had an adoration of Naruto. And she had always seemed unfaltering in her silent support, even if she was to shy to be anywhere near him without fainting. To be fair, her confidence had shot up after the chunin exams pre-lims, and then again after the actually finals, but it was still bad

"But, WHY?" Tenten managed to ask, Hinata sighed but still answered.

"Naruto needs someone strong to love and support him. I'm too weak for it. And I can also tell he feels safe around you, your instant acceptance of him, especially after you heard of the fox, earned you a place amongst his precious people" Tenten was surprised at this, just because she showed him a bit of kindness and understanding, she was precious to him? Only after this did what Hinata really mean hit her.

"WHOA!" she exclaimed, startling the shy Hyuuga "I really only just met him, I mean, I like him, but only as a friend!" Hinata gasped and tried to stutter out an apology.

"I…I didn't m…mean it like t...that!" Tenten giggled girlishly, placing an arm over the younger girls shoulder she lead Hinata over to the couch so they could talk awhile, though for Tenten she had already set her mind on talking out some of Hinata shyness to help her chances with Naruto. She made almost no progress.

**With Tsunade and Shizune **

"so what do we have to do?" asked Shizune seconds after they shushined back to the Hokage office, Tsunade grinned evilly and Shizune visably shuddered, after the last time she had seen that look, there had been five less perverts in the world.

"We" announced Tsunade "are going to take what is ours, plus interest" the rest of the day and the day after had been spent gathering many things. This included the entire jutsu collection of Konoha, the Hokages personal jutsu collection, the forbidden scroll, the legendary Raijin and other assorted weapons and scrolls. Shizune could only guess at what her teacher was thinking up. She had also seen Tsunade sitting at her desk, writing something, before she stamped the page with her official Hokage stamp with a satisfied and evil grin, and as with the items, Shizune didn't even ask.

TIMESKIP END

An explosion rocked Konoha, ten seconds later Tsunade was dressed, ready for combat, and looking over konoha for the threatened area. Her breath caught in her throat as she saw the origins of a large burning fire, Narutos apartment block.

_Minutes earlier_

A lone genin of three years leapt from roof to roof in complete silence, the only evidence of his passing were the small disturbances he made on the ground where there was dust, and the extremely light rustling of his clothes. Any normal person would've sworn he was a passing ghost at night for his swiftness and silence. He stopped abruptly and stared at a seemingly abandoned apartment block in the 'bad' part of town that was Narutos residence. Now that he had stopped you could see this boy in the pale moonlight.

He was a foot taller than Sasuke and had the same tan skin as Naruto, wearing black ANBU pants with an electrical dragon winding up each leg, each ending at the opening of his pockets. His matching black coat was reminiscent of Shinos, though it did not hide his face, it was also decorated with dragons, two of them wound around each arm though they were not electric, and his left arm depicted fire and wind elemental dragons while his left showed a water one and an earthen one. On his back the word Kageryu was written in a rich red over a beautiful yin-yang symbol. His blond hair fell down to his shoulders, though his konoha headband kept it from his face a single strand fell down over sapphire-blue eyes. Eyes that would be warm and welcoming with about any expression, but not on this boys face.

He stood there for a few minutes, before he turned away and started to head home. Only five houses down though he felt the hairs rise on the back of his neck, he spun around even as three dark blurs disappeared entered through Narutos open window. Being a shinobi he naturally assumed the worst and jumped back towards the building, stopping and crouching in the same place he had been about a minute earlier. He peered through the window to asses the situation, and though he couldn't see much he felt a small pulse of concentrated chakra. He decided that the time for stealth was over and simply leapt across the street and through Narutos window.

**A few minutes earlier**

"Who's that?" whispered a figure clad completely in black, the only other colour was a dull white mask with the letters 'NE' on them in a murky blood-red. He and his two companions stopped on a roof, one back from their destination, they all had their eyes on the boy standing across from the apartment block. He had approached with little warning of his presence and they had been slightly worried, but one of them sighed in relief at the sight of him.

"That boy there used to be on my genin team" replied what seemed to be the leader of the small group, "his name is Ryuden Tamahi, and he is an orphan as far as I'm informed. When my team was told they were being promoted he had politely refused and requested to be a 'one man genin team'. the sandaime had allowed it as he had the ability and experience to" he explained to the others.

"So, Mantis, what level skills?" asked the third man, seeing him still there and wanting to be prepared if there was a confrontation.

"Honestly? No clue" replied the leader, now called Mantis the other two looked at him and he sighed "Nobodies actually been able to pin it down, though he would be high genin to low chunin if you watched him train or spar. As if to oppose that however, He has never once failed a mission, even the B rank ones he gets, and has never come back injured" the other two looked at Ryuden in a new light, noticing that even the way he held himself was that of an experienced Shinobi, curiosity about him as well as annoyance at never hearing of him before washed through them. "That's not all, however. We went on an escort mission about a year and a half back, but it ended up as more than the original C-rank, turning out to be quite dangerous as the man we escorted was actually an important researcher and held information about someone in power. They sent a B rank missing-nin after us, some guy that idolized that Zabuza Momichi. I'll remember that fight for a long time…..

**FLASHBACK **

'Mantis' and his genin team were escorting the client to his home town and things so far had been extremely dull. They had just happened upon a reasonable size lake and 'Mantis' decided to give his team a break, they walked casually and were about 20 metres from the lake side when any dullness ended.

"Duck!" yelled 'Mantis', even as he grabbed the man they were escorting and dragged him down, two of his genin team complied while Ryuden stayed standing. An exact replica of Zabuza's sword sliced through where the others heads had been a moment ago, before being stopped dead as Ryuden stepped back out of said swords way and grabbed it effortlessly. A moment later he ducked under a round house kick from behind him, he reversed his hold on the sword and thrust it behind him in an attempt to skewer his attacker. he instead stabbed straight through and shattered a log that had been used as a replacement, Ryuden sensed several kunai flying at him and was forced to release the sword as to not be killed. He landed next to his amazed, but alert team, and it wasn't half a second later that the released sword was caught on its way to the ground by there attacker.

His attire screamed Zabuza, being an exact copy of what he wore, the mans hair, sword, skin tan, height… EVERYTHING was exactly Zabuza. The only difference was that he had elected to not wear the bandages on his face, for whatever reason. He grinned evilly and pointed his sword at the group in front of him.

"Looks like I get to have some fun with a few thirsty looking leaves" he said to himself psychotically, a glint appearing in his eye "maybe they'll appreciate a bit of _hydration_" without hesitation he formed a hand sign over his sword and mist quickly rose up from the lake, encompassing the entire area. It had happened so fast that nobody could even react…..almost.

"You three protect the client, I'll deal wi.." 'Mantis' was cut off by a blood curdling scream that pierced through the sense-dampening mist. It quickly died and with it the mist fell, the sight that greeted them cause the two other genin and the client to 'spill' there lunches. Ryuden was crouched over the Nins body, holding the bodies' hair while he hacked at the neck with a kunai. He soon removed the entire head and sealed it into a scroll he produced from a pouch, by this time his team mates had calmed down but the client still looked rather ill. 'Mantis' quickly examined the body and gave Ryuden a sharp look.

"Please explain what the fuck just happened" he asked before glancing again at the body "and tell me what you did to him that looks like he was killed by two spastic swords" Ryuden looked at his leader emotionlessly, though inside he was musing at how close he actually was to the truth. Still, the description given was rather accurate as the body was now nothing more than a pile of skin, blood and eternal organs, only the head had been untouched,

"Meh" he grunted, "I noticed he was a bit relaxed and overconfident when he cast the jutsu and I used that as an advantage to use a chakra enhanced dash to the exact place he had been. This is the result of two kunai and a hatred for wanna-bee's"

**Flashback End**

A stunned silence settled on the group as the boy they spied upon stood silently and jumped away. 'Mantis' shook his head in amazement.

"Don't know how he does it, but it seems when he's not paying attention he has the most extraordinary stealth skills" he commented before signalling for them to move out, they silently jumped to the apartment blocks roof before slipping in through a window that was Narutos bedroom. They smirked at the sight of a soundly sleeping Naruto; the leader moved to stand over him and ran through a few hand signs. Several tree branches burst from below Naruto and strapped him to the bed.

Naruto's eyes shot open as he felt something restraining him. He looked down at the branches, and then back up to the man standing over him, even behind his 'NE' mask you could tell he was smiling. Naruto saw him reach into a pouch and pull out a seed, he chuckled and went through a few hand signs, making the seed in his hand grow into a small sprout, then a thicker, dagger like branch. He raised it over Naruto's heart and smiled as a strange green liquid, that was most defiantly poison, formed on the tip, before he violently thrust it down into Naruto's heart. Pain exploded through him as the dagger pierced his heart; the green liquid quickly invaded his system as it circulated through his body.

"Have fun healing that without the demons help" snickered 'Mantis'. As Blood poured out of the wound, and Naruto lay there dying, he couldn't help but wonder quietly. his last thoughts were before his heart stopped was, _I will die here tonight, but even in death I will protect what's precious to me, saving it from Kyuubis evil…. Though I wonder how Kami-sama shall judge my soul._

"we are finally free of Kyuubis evil" 'Mantis said happily, the three man team relaxed as they looked down at Naruto's body, and that was their down fall.

"**Lightning & Wind style: disabling shockwave" **yelled Ryuden from behind them they jumped and spun around to defend themselves but it was already to late as an electrically charged and almost invisible wave of air washed through them and they fell limply to the ground. 'Mantis' grunted as he tried to move, but found that the Jutsu's name held it's meaning, he tried to ask what he wanted but found that he couldn't speak either. This jutsu was potentially an A-rank capture jutsu, not allowing the target to escape OR call for help. Ryuden ignored the men and rushed over to Naruto, he grabbed the wood wrapped around him and, to the surprise of the three 'NE' men, ripped them off with pure strength, taking the sides of the bed with them, before removing the dagger in his heart.

His sudden frenzy stopped as he sighted Naruto's destroyed and unbeating heart, after a few moments he turned away and looked down at the men, with a look that could be seen as emotionless but was actually a cover for the hidden rage and sadness. He reached down to grab the leader when he noticed movement from on of the other men, who had only got hit by the edge of the technique, he had managed to force his arm into his pouch and send a weak burst of chakra into it. A faint hissing noise was heard and Ryuden grew wide eyed, he reached back and grabbed Naruto's lifeless body, before they were surrounded by a strange yellow fire. Half a second later the apartment block exploded.

The fire was already being put out by ANBU when Tsunade arrived, she looked about frantically for Naruto, hoping that he was okay. She was distracted, however, by a ring of ANBU surrounding two blond boys. She raced over to them and pushed two of the ANBU aside, accidently sending them flying across Konoha, but she didn't even notice as she looked upon Narutos still form. Blood had seeped through his night shirt, changing the tan white to dark red. His wound was still opened and she could see where his heart had been pierced with…..something, before it was ripped out. She knelt in front of him and gently ran a hand through his hair; she tried to stop herself from crying, but couldn't help it as a few tears escaped, after awhile she looked up at the other blond boy. He had been sitting next to Naruto when she arrived; staring at Narutos body, at some point though, his gaze had switched to her. She could tell that he wore a mask not unlike Naruto did, except Narutos mask was of care free happiness, this boy had one of being completely unemotional, something rarely found on even the most battle hardened Jounin.

"You alright?" he asked softly, though he kept no emotion in his voice. Tsunade looked at him through the tears, and managed to choke out a question.

"W-Who are you? And do you know what happened here?" she asked.

"Really, you don't remember me, the only other blond apart from the Yamanka's, the only one-man genin team at the moment?" he asked, Tsunade shook her head and he sighed "I'll put it down to emotional stress. I'm Ryuden Tamarasahi; I was headed home and noticed three figures enter through Narutos window. I decided I'd better check it out, but by the time I got there, they had killed him. I disabled them and checked on Naruto; however one of the men managed to overcome my jutsu and activate a pouch full of exploding tags." Tsunade stared deep into the boys' eyes and he returned the gaze unflinchingly. No matter how she tried, Tsunade couldn't find even the slightest hint deceit. She sighed as she looked down at Naruto, before returning her gaze to Ryuden.

"Ok, you can go home, I'm gonna need to do some things, but I need time first" Ryuden nodded as he stood, he looked once more at Naruto, before he leaped off into the night.

Hey all, soz for the wait, I've had a hell of a lot on, but after I post this, I'm gonna start on my next one.


	3. gone, back, then gone again

Hey all. Yes I know, it's been awhile, but I have a good and original excuse! I got lost on the road of life… what? That's been done? Kakashi? Crap. Um, I was doing research... That to? Jiraiya? Fuck it. The truth is I was lazy as crap and was reading everyone else's stories and the manga, happy?

**READ: **going over my last chapter I found a mistake, the mysterious boys name is Ryuden Tamarashi

I don't own Naruto, but I do own Ryuden Tamarashi, and he's just as good (if not better)

The only time I shall use writing like **THIS **in the story, is for jutsu, summons or demons in demon form

He was in darkness, darkness was all that could be seen, nothing going on forever, it was a few seconds later that Naruto opened his eyes. As he sat up he almost slapped himself for thinking he was in darkness, except he was frozen in place by the scene before him. He was in a throne room, torches lined the walls every few meters, and the ceiling was so high it could not be seen, the walls were made from a dark obsidian stone, and a blood red carpet lead to the throne of the room, where Narutos eyes were glued.

"**Take me to the land of the dead, I don't want to die, but if I must then let this boy return**" pleaded Kyuubi. She stood, her nine tails waving in an agitated manor, before a throne made of gold, inlaid with mystic runes made from bone, upon the thrown was the shinigami himself.

"**As I have said**" he said, voice rumbling deeply "**I cannot just send him back-**"

"**Why not? He's dealt with more than anyone I've known, he deserves a second chance, do what you will with me, just let him live a normal-"** Kyuubi was silenced as a muzzle appeared over her mouth; she glared at the shinigami who returned the gaze.

"**Now if you'd be quiet and listen, I have something to say**" he said the impatience clear in his voice. "**I cannot send just him back, because you two are now combined, chakra and soul, thanks to the seal**" he paused a moment to let this sink in to her before continuing "**Normally I do not mess with affairs of the human world, but because of how closely you are intertwined, and that he is deserving of a second chance, I am going to send you both back, just how you were**" Kyuubis eyes grew wide, she bowed even lower before the shinigami and tried to offer thanks, but was quite hindered by the muzzle. The Shinigami released the muzzle on Kyuubi and turned to where the boy sat. Naruto looked back at him a little nervously.

"Umm, hi?" he said loudly, the Shinigami chuckled at the boy before making a coming motion.

"**Approach me child, we have some things to discuss before I send you back**"

_A week and 2 days after Narutos death_

The sun was hidden by cloud as the gathering started the funeral. Naruto was to be buried along side the Hokages, as a reward for saving the village from the evil of Kyuubi. His death had been announced to the village by a tearful Tsunade, and though many of the elder generations celebrated, the younger of the generations were mostly upset. They soon after were told of the Kyuubi (those that didn't already know) and all that knew Naruto, except two, came to the same conclusion. Naruto was Naruto, and they would honour his memory at the service. The two that didn't were not present at the funeral, Sakura was following around Sasuke, who was under constant supervision by jounin, but also received training from all of them.

The funeral was held atop the Hokage monument, but it was barely large enough for all that attended. Attending was all the teams of Narutos year and their jounin sensei, except for team 7 and Kakashi (most noticeably a hysterical Hinata). Gai and his team were there, also there was Ryuden, Tsunade, Shizune, Teuchi, Ayame, Anko, Konohamaru, Mizuki, Udon, Iruka, Asuma, Jiraiya and the clan heads of Aburame, Inuzuka, Akimichi, Nara and Yamanka. This, however, was just the list from Konoha, the news had gotten out and also present was Princess Yuki from snow, The sand sibs, Inari Tsunami & Tazuna from wave, and many other people that Naruto had helped out (soz don't know all filler characters). All the out of town guests had been informed of Narutos 'burden' but none of them had left. Tsunade was standing at the speakers' podium, next to a closed casket that held Narutos body, about to deliver the opening sermon when two light landings echoed over the otherwise silent rooftop. Everyone stared in shock as they took in the arrival of Itachi and Kisame, but it was only momentary as all the ninja present slipped into various stances ready for a conflict.

"Relax" said Itachi, not even slightly bothered by the many ninja around him "we're just here to see if the container really is dead, not for a fight"

"Well I was, but looks like you arrived just in time" said a voice; everyone had been so focused on the intruders they failed to notice Naruto sitting up in his casket. He looked around at all the shocked and some even scared faces, "what? You all look like you just saw someone rise from the dead, or something" the joke was completely lost on the crowd, an awkward silence held for a bit before four squeals echoed out across Konoha. Naruto gasped in shock and suffocation as he was smothered by Tsunade, Shizune, Hinata and, to the surprise of most of the guests, Tenten. Forgotten by the sudden revival then reunion, Itachi & Kisame shushined away. Once freed from the girls death grip, Naruto looked around at everyone and smiled, "well look at you lot, I was dead for an hour or so and your already burying me, can't tell ya how wanted I feel".

"Umm, Naruto?" said Tsunade, gaining his attention she continued "you've been… you were dead, that is, for nine days" Naruto blinked.

"Huh?"

"I said you were dead for nine days" Naruto looked at her, then the other guests, then back to her.

"Umm, excuse me for a minute" said Naruto politely, he turned away from everyone and ran through hand signs. A large plume of smoke enveloped him, obscuring him from view, until it blew gently away to reveal an angry Naruto glaring at clone that was beside itself with laughter (AN: yes, that pun was very much intended).

"Why" said the angry Naruto, "was I not told this?" the laughing Naruto stoped laughing, now only grinning widely at him.

"Because I knew the look on your face would be priceless" it giggled "and I was right"

"Vixen" Naruto sighed; he turned away from her and met the dead-pan gazes of the assembled guests. It suddenly occurred to him how strange it must seem that he rose from the dead, and then had a conversation entirely with a clone that had a different personality. He smiled and was about to explain but was interrupted by said clone.

"Let me explain, I have a feeling it will be MUCH more fun" it said happily, Naruto looked back at it and grinned at the mischief in its eyes. He stepped aside and let the clone walk forward; it winked at the crowd "can anyone guess who I am?"-Silence-"no? We'll try this, then" it quickly did a few hand signs, before transforming into a lapdog sized Kyuubi no Kitsune.

A ripple of fear rush through the crowd, all of them slipping back into fighting stances. Naruto couldn't help but laugh, a group consisting of extremely skilled shinobi in battle stances, ready to fight a tiny fox doing its best to look cute and cuddly. It 'hmphed' at their threatening gazes, before standing (causing everyone to flinch) and promptly dispersing.

"Thanks a lot everyone" said Naruto sarcastically, drawing attention back to him "now she's gonna be annoying me to kill you for being so rude to her"

"**Damn straight**" echoed a voice in Narutos head, causing him to chuckle lightly. Tsunade, on the other hand, just wanted to know something.

"Okay, ignoring all these unexpected guests" she said calmly "how the hell are you alive?" Naruto gave her a foxy grin.

"That, is a secret that is not lightly shared" he responded, Tsunade sighed and nodded her acceptance, being a shinobi she had learned to deal with secrets. Naruto on the other hand had already forgotten about it.

"Come on people, this isn't a funeral anymore, brighten up" he yelled at the still silent crowd, they instantly cheered up, but again, Fate had decided to screw with Naruto.

"Naruto Uzumaki" spoke a voice all too familiar to Tsunade, all heads turned to where Danzo, as well as the civilian council, stood "regardless of your amazing revival, you are in violation of your banishment, thus correct punishment shall be applied in the form of imprisonment" a look of shock came over the peoples faces, and Tsunade was about to argue when Naruto raised his hand.

"Its fine, Tsunade, I'm just glad so many people thought so much of me, and that they came to my funeral" he said politely to her, he switched his gaze to Danzo and once again spoke with politeness "Forgive my rude intrusion upon Konoha soil, I did not mean to break my banishment and shall leave, I ask only to be given the rest of today here to once again gather the things I need and say any final goodbyes" Danzo and the council grinned happily at the semi-defeated look on the blonds face. All the shinobi present, however, were half distracted as they tried to dispel whatever genjutsu had made them think Naruto was actually being polite.

"Very well, you have till the gates close at sundown to leave" he said, relishing every word, Naruto watched as Danzo and the council walked away with a neutral face, today was going to suck.

_That afternoon_

Naruto sighed as turned once more to face konoha, most hated him, but he still had called it home. He already felt a touch homesick as the sun descended behind the Hokages faces, bathing the city in a beautiful glow of orange. After watching for a few minutes, Naruto moved off the path. The slight orange that still peeked over from the sun left him in a twilight that, remarkably, made him blend in with the forest. Moving swiftly through the trees, Naruto looked back upon his childhood at the village, and apart from a few things, it was all just a blur. He shook his head in annoyance; _I'll have to ask Tsunade about it, _Thought Naruto.

Naruto arrived at the designated meeting place on time, a ten foot rock in a small clearing by a strong flowing river. He sat on the rock and prepared himself for the long wait for Tsunade and the others when a cough startled him. Spinning around in surprise, Naruto met the gaze of one Ryuden Tamarashi. He was leaning leisurely on a tree, eyes locked on to Narutos, giving a cold, ruthless and intelligent gaze that held Naruto transfixed for a brief moment.

"Um, do I know you?" asked Naruto with his usual tact, Ryuden smirked at him.

"It would seem not" he answered in a level voice "I am Ryuden Tamarashi, and I will be accompanying you and your friends on your banishment" Naruto blinked in surprise.

"Wait, why?"

"Because" said Ryuden "I've got nothing left for me at the village, but you, I've watched you for awhile and I've found that we have much in common. First though, I'd like to ask you how you did that jutsu, the one that allowed Kyuubi out of the seal" Naruto was a bit surprised at the request, but decided if he was coming with them, it was fine. After running through the hand signs slowly, Naruto used it and summoned out Kyuubi.

"Kit, you gotta stop trusting everyone you come across. I can tell he's not lying, but what if he had been an enemy?" chided Kyuubi as the smoke from her appearance cleared. Naruto rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment, she had a point. "hm" continued Kyuubi, I'll need to get rid of this look, doesn't suit me" she complained, indicating her Naruto form, she quickly fixed this, though, as she performed a henge, changing to a red headed, slightly older and, _sharper, _version of Narutos female henge, although she let her hair fall down to her mid-back, instead of the usual ponytails. She turned to Ryuden and smiled.

"So why did you want to learn this little trick?" she asked him. He smiled in return and quickly used the jutsu; a large billow of smoke covered him, and as it cleared away, left two Ryuden's.

"Hey, it worked!" exclaimed the second Ryuden, but in a very feminine voice. "hm, I have to agree with Kyuubi over there, not _quite _me" the clone continued, almost to itself. Following in Kyuubis footsteps, it performed a henge and, once the smoke cleared, revealed a vastly different form. Standing even in height with Ryuden, was an anthro-dragon (**AN**: just for those that do not know, anthro is a term meaning an animal with very human like characteristics, like having a basic human anatomy with added animal parts, like tails, wings or even scales instead of skin) with smooth and shiny black scales, giving the impression that they had been meticulously polished. She wore the same outfit as Ryuden, although it accommodated for her sizable bust and slighter frame easily. Looking her up and down, Kyuubi smiled.

"Well I believe we haven't been introduced yet, although you seem to have heard of me" she said, slightly preening at the notion of how well known she was. The dragoness giggled at her lightly, bringing a small, almost unseeable smile to Ryuden's lips.

"yeah, I've heard of you" said the black dragoness once she had calmed down, "I'm Ember Tamarashi, and no, we're not related, by blood or by marriage, I allowed him to take the family name" she said, quickly adding on the last part, seeing the question on Kyuubis lips before it could be asked.

"why?" asked Naruto, "doesn't he have a name?"

"I was never given one" answered Ryuden, "but I won't go any further, I'd prefer to have this conversation with the whole group, because I hate repeating a long story"

"Okay, I'll try to remember that" mumbled Naruto, mind already wandering as he seemed to stare off into the distance. Ryuden noticed the blank, wandering look on his face and frowned, coughing to gain his attention, Ryuden returned to being quite serious.

"Naruto, do you find it hard to concentrate at all?" he asked, Naruto was caught off guard by the odd question, thinking quickly he nodded.

"Yeah, unless I'm fighting or really training hard, and I also find it hard to remember things, why?" said Naruto, Ryuden gained a thoughtful expression, before turning to Kyuubi.

"Hey, have you noticed any abnormalities about Narutos body?" Kyuubi copied his thoughtful pose, thinking through what she knew.

"Well" she finally said "he can't concentrate, he doesn't retain a lot of information, bad chakra control…" she trailed off, trying to think of other things.

"That's not what I meant" said Ryuden, he got a questioning look from the group and he sighed "I meant things like, Naruto being short and scrawny. With your influence in his body, surely he'd be quite tall and muscularly defined"

"That could have something to do with his malnutrition, and the attacks on him when he was younger" Kyuubi answered.

"Still, he shouldn't be so short at least"

"HEY" yelled Naruto "I am NOT short" Ryuden chuckled and whacked him over the back of the head lightly.

"Face it, you're the shortest in your class, and I'd say shorter than most of the year below you" Naruto glared at him angrily, getting a snicker from the girls.

"Get over it Naruto" said Ember, earning a glare for her trouble, she replied in a polite and sophisticated manner, by poking her tongue at him.

"Now what are you getting at, Ryuden?" said Kyuubi, trying to get the conversation back on track.

"It's just a feeling, but I think someone may have put seals on Naruto" silence followed this statement, Naruto, being clueless and restless, decided to put in his two cents.

"Um, please explain" Ryuden looked at Naruto and sighed.

"There are many types of seals Naruto, more than just the average storage seal and seals for demons. There are seals that can drain chakra, impede movement, block memory and a thousand other things" he explained quickly "one of those is that to stunt physical growth of any kind" Naruto grew wide eyed at this.

"What? But how, I mean, wouldn't Kyuubi have noticed it?" Ryuden shook his head sadly.

"Not necessarily, seals aren't always that obvious, and they don't have to activate straight away. If I'm right, then somebody has inscribed a seal or seals that are slow acting. Meaning the effects would be gradual, but would build up unbelievably, feeding off your own chakra in minute amounts until they either reach a limit, or you die" Naruto just stared at him, wanting to not believe that it could be true.

"But, this is all just guessing, right?" he asked hopefully.

"Yes, but I know how we can find out if I'm right" Ryuden replied, "I'll need you to strip to your boxers and stand with your arms slightly lifted from your sides"

"WHAT!?" he exclaimed, "to my boxers? There are girls here and…" he was cut off by another slap over the head, this time from Kyuubi.

"oh get over it kit, I've been in your body since the day you were born, I know what you look like" Naruto blushed and rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment.

"Yeah well, I suppose" he mumbled "but hey! What about Ember?"

"Who me?" Ember said with a sweet smile. "I'm staying wether you want me to or not. I love seeing Ryuden here working on seals. I might live in him, but I still haven't seen everything that goes on in his mind. So seeing him work with seals is always interesting" Naruto sighed in defeat; He could tell there would be no dissuading her. And so Naruto began on the extremely embarrassing task of striping down.

-----

four shadows raced through the tree tops, completely silent except the rustle of clothes, the ever so soft noise of their footfalls, and one other noise

Hinata giggled to herself, she simply couldn't help it. Here she was, leaving her village, the only home she had ever known, to possibly never return to it. But she was not only with a close friend and two great teachers, but also her Naruto-kun. During the days after Narutos death, Tenten had been there for her, as shoulder to cry on, and as a friend. Infact, she may have not still been around if not for Tenten. In between her annoying, tedious D-rank missions, and her harsh family, Naruto had been the bright light that cheered up her life, with his boundless energy and enthusiasm. When he had died, she fell into depression, the first days after his death where spent on Tenten's shoulders before being forced to go back to her average routine, although to her it all felt numb, the only relief was the nights she spent, talking and crying with Tenten. The result of this time together resulted in an incredibly bond of trust and friendship between the girls. Her musings where brought to an end as they broke from the trees and into the small clearing beside the river.

A warm light illuminated the clearing, the light being cast from a small campfire that gave of a comfortable heat but without smoke. Naruto was lying by the fire, and Kyuubi, Ember and Ryuden were sitting close together, looking down at a scroll Ryuden was drawing on, on the opposite side of the fire. Tsunade walked ahead of the girls and loudly announced herself.

"Hey Naruto, wake up!" she yelled, scaring the crap out of the half asleep boy, that had been napping lightly. Shizune and Tenten couldn't help but laugh at him, while Hinata just whispered 'Naruto-kun' in concern. He leapt up and shook his fist angrily.

"WHATS THE BIG IDEA!" yelled Naruto "SNEAKING UP ON ME LIKE THAT!" Tsunade growled and stood over him, in an attempt at intimidation, before yelling back.

"WELL A REAL NINJA WOULD HAVE KNOWN I WAS HERE! I NEVER EVEN TRIED TO SNEAK UP ON YOU, MORON!"

"UGLY"

"SHORTASS"

"OLD BAT"

"**THAT'S IT**" yelled Kyuubi, putting a bit of her youki to demonize her voice and slowly leaking killing intent into the air, this gained the fearful attention of Naruto and the girls, and amused looks from Ryuden and Ember,. Said fox rose to her feet and stalked angrily over to the previously fighting blonds, "**IF YOU TWO DON'T STOP FIGHTING AND SHUT THE FUCK UP, THEN I SWEAR TO KAMI THAT I'LL RIP YOU BOTH APART, AND WHEN I'M DONE, THERE WON'T BE ENOUGH OF YOU LEFT TO FILL A THIMBLE, GOT IT?" **Tsunade and Naruto nodded in confirmation as they quivered under the gaze of Kyuubi, and under the mounting KI (I'm too lazy to write killer intent every time) that was almost suffocating. Suddenly, it was gone; it was like a pressure valve being released. As Kyuubi walked calmly back over to Ryuden and Ember, she spoke again, in her normal human voice. "Now if you'll be quiet for awhile, Ryuden here has almost finished this seal array of his"

"Actually" he said, as he and Ember stood, "I finished it during your little tirade there" everyone except Ember looked at him in surprise, that KI had been ridiculous, and he was doing a seal during it! It was only then that Tenten realized something.

"Uh, not to be rude, or anything" she started, drawing everyone's attention to her, making her slightly nervous "Um, I know that we had this guy coming with us, but who's the lizard-chick with him?" this made everyone that had recently arrived look to Ember for answers, who was growling at Tenten.

"dragon, not lizard, dragon, and if you must know, I'm ember, Ember Tamarashi, but before anyone asks me and Ryu-kun aren't related at all, I just live in him" she answered, earning a glare from Ryuden at the nickname, _note to self, keep calling him that._

"Wait, did you say you live IN him?" asked Shizune, Ember smirked.

"What? Did you think only demons could be sealed in humans?" replied Ember with a snort.

"Oh" said Tsunade as she turned to Ryuden, "so that's what you meant by having something in common with Naruto, eh Ryuden?"

"That's half of it, however we have something more important to discuss, but we can talk while we move" he replied. He smothered the fire with a single stamp, sending ash into the air and leaving only glowing embers on the ground, he looked at the group and, finding everyone ready, leapt off into the trees, with the others close behind. Kyuubi and Ember decided to just return to their hosts. As they made their way away from Konoha, Tsunade made her way quickly up to be beside, yet slightly in front of Ryuden, she was the leader here, so she was going to lead.

"So, what did you want to talk about" she asked Ryuden, making sure everyone was able to hear.

"I've got good news and bad news. The bad news is this afternoon I discovered many minor and several high level, uncoordinated seals placed on Narutos body" the girls almost missed their next step. They all had experience with seals, and knew how dangerous uncoordinated sealing's could potentially be to someone, and even more so on a Jinchikcuri with an already at least Kage level seal.

"Alright" growled Tsunade through gritted teeth, she had half a mind to go back to the village and find whoever had placed the seals, she'd make sure Anko and Ibiki had fun. "How many and what type of seals are we talking about here?" Ryuden smiled grimly.

"53" this time someone did miss their landing, luckily for Hinata, Tenten had been beside her at the time and managed to grab her before she fell.

"T-thanks Tenten-Chan" stuttered Hinata, Tenten just smiled at her and nodded for Ryuden to continue.

"6 high and 19 low level seals to affect and/or suppress his ability to memorize, memories, decision making, motor skills and also to give him ADHD like symptoms when outside of fights" continued Ryuden.

"What do you mean outside of fight?" asked Naruto

"Have you ever noticed when you're fighting, everything's clearer and its easier to think?" Ryuden asked.

"I think so, yeah" replied Naruto

"well that's because the seals used would limit the chakra flow to certain arts of your brain, thus during a fight, when there is a lot of chakra surging through your body, a lot gets past the seals and allows you to attain near normal brain function" explained Ryuden, "infact, probably the only reason your not a drooling vegetable is your naturally large chakra reserves allowed some chakra get past the seals" Naruto nodded, it made sense to him…mostly.

"So what about the physical ones?" asked Tsunade.

"Well he has 8 high and 20 low level seals, these affect and/or suppress Narutos chakra control and flow, muscle development and general growth, senses and muscle memory. Once again, his naturally high chakra reserves helped to overcome this" explained Ryuden, a silence followed in which everyone absorbed the information. About five minutes afterwards Tsunade spoke again.

"So what was the good new?" she asked

"I already knew about three quaters of them, mostly the lower ones, and I have two ways to fix the seals. I could pick them apart one by one, but that would be time consuming and exhausting, as well as the fact that Naruto would need to relearn his entire nervous system, making him physically inept at anything from using chakra to moving a finger for at least two to five weeks, or I could use the array I made this afternoon to break down all the physical seals very slowly, over the time span of about a week. This means that with regular chakra and body exercises he'll keep most of his current ability, before his skills start increasing. The memory seals however will be immediately disabled, rendering him unconscious for up to twenty-four hours because of the memory and brain function backlash" the girls just stared at him. Inventing a new basic seal takes days, decoding even a chunin or low jounin level seal could take weeks, and decoding various high level seals could take months. Yet he just casually stated that he knew most of the more basic of the 53 seals on Naruto, and had decoded the rest of the more complex ones, created an array to break down the seals, and made it so the backlash was at a minimum from the physical seals, all in one afternoon.

"Just how good are you at seals?" asked Shizune in amazement.

"Probably a fly shit below Jiraiya" he replied, normally Tsunade or Shizune would question this, but they could only believe it if what Ryuden said was true.

"So was the seal for Kyuubi damaged?" asked Tsunade.

"Not that I could tell, but I'll have to check more in-depth later" he answered.

"hey" Naruto said suddenly, "are we actually going anywhere in particular?" Tsunade grinned back at him.

"Oh I think you'll like where we're headed, you're quite popular there" she answered him with a grin.

"Really? Where are we going? Huh? Huh?" he asked in excitement.

"Oh, just a little village by the water, I'm sure Tazuna will be thrilled to see you"

TaaDaa, the interesting thing is, I did the last half of this in one day, where the first took me months….

Oh well, reviews would be nice, and the more I get the sooner I'll get the next chapter up.


	4. of seals and snakes

Hey all, wow, been awhile eh? I know, I should do this more often, but I've had a bit of a game addiction lately, (bloody titan quest) as well as a few interesting stories I've read (ima plug one now, Black flames dance in the wind; by devilkeys writing. It's awesome)

Anyway, enjoy the new chapter.

0o0

It was only three hours later that the group found themselves at Tazuna's new house, a non floating one, not too far from the original, it was in a denser part of the forest, but an area had been cleared around it to give the feel of a lawn. It was in the same style, and had a nice porch out the front, complete with a rocking chair and swinging seat. The owner of said house would be arriving in three days, along with his family. Naruto smiled fondly as he remembered his encounter with Tazuna.

**FLASHBACK NO JUTSU! **(I've always wanted to do that)

Naruto sat at the Ichiraku ramen stand with some of his only friends, having a last meal before he was forced to leave, Kiba was trying to get Shino to show…ANY emotion, Lee was shouting about the 'unyouthfulness' of the council, Shikamaru was half asleep, muttering something about the whole situation being troublesome, and Chouji was gulping down an eighth bowl of Ramen. Naruto himself had just polished off his ninth bowl, all of which were either on the house, or on one of his friends. Just as he reached for another bowl, he was pulled away by the sound of his name being called by a familiar voice, telling his friends he'd be back soon; he ducked out of the shop to see just who he expected.

"What's up jiji?" he asked Tazuna, a smile graced the older mans lips as he fished around in his pocket. Withdrawing something, he tossed it to Naruto, whom caught it easily in, looking down at the object he gave Tazuna a strange look, "a key?" he asked. Tazuna chuckled at the blonde knucklehead.

"Yup, it's our spare house key" he explained, "just encase you and any friends you gain ever need a place to stay, for whatever reasons, then our house is your house" Naruto's mouth dropped open in an O shape, before it was replaced with a small smile.

"Thanks, Jiji" said Naruto softly, he then walked up to the older man and gave him a warm hug, one that he felt happy to return. After he broke off his hug, Narutos regular fox-like grin was once again present, "well I better be getting back to my friends", Tazuna nodded at his young friend. After Naruto left, Tazuna stood there for a few minutes, listening to the sounds from the ramen stand, and prayed that this would not be the last time Naruto got to laugh among his friends.

**KAI **(I've also wanted to do that, but to a much lesser extent)

They had never actually given Tazuna or his family an answer, as they wanted to keep the number of people who knew about their group limited to those they could trust, and that could defend such information.

Naruto produced the key from his pocket and gained access to the house. They filled into the currently empty house and, after flicking on the hall lights, headed for the living room. Naruto wished that Tazuna's family could have come with them, but having civilians would have made being tracked much easier, and have slowed their progress, even if they were carried it would still be the case. So Tsunade had done what she had with all the other guests who thought it unwise to travel at night, put them up in a hotel, and paid for genin teams to escort the guests to their destination. For the sake of the groups safety however, the genin team was ordered to drop them off at the bridge, and return back to the village.

As Naruto entered the room he couldn't help but notice the difference of furnishing since his last visit. Two large comfortable chairs and a three person sofa sat spaced around a low but sturdy looking polished oak coffee table, all made from shiny brown leather. Directly across from the couch was a 30 inch flat screen TV mounted into the wall, Naruto couldn't help but wonder how much it must have cost Tazuna. Either way though, it would seem the land of waves had been doing much better since he'd left.

"now then" said Shizune once they'd all taken a seat, Tsunade and Shizune had taken the two single chairs and Ryuden had elected to lean against the wall, leaving Naruto between a slightly out of breath Tenten, and a tomato red Hinata. "we made really good time on the trip, and no one seems to tired" shizune glanced over at Tenten and Hinata, who both caught exactly what she meant, but before she could continue, a rough cough cut her off.

"Sorry to interupt" said Ryuden, "but I have work to do on Naruto, and it's probably best if I start now" everyone nodded and awaited his intsructions. Soon enough Naruto found himself sitting shirtless on the coffe table, with all the girls looking at his currently visable seal. A small surge of Chakra from Beneath Ryuden's sleeves caught their attention as a brush fell into his hand. A glint from the brush brought all eyes to rest upon it, and all mouths fell open to hit the floor. Ryuden chuckled mirthlessly at the others as he regarded the brush in his hand.

The handle was made from a dark, polished wood that dully reflected the light cast by the ceiling light, the real eye candy though were the many jewels that were inlaid into the handle. Diamonds, rubies, emeralds and sapphires all twisted and danced in a complex pattern that shined in the rooms light, until it looked almost as if it were alive, and every move Ryuden made, no matter how subtle, brought it to life. At the end of the handle was the actual brush, made of fine white fibers that seemed to be silk, connected to the handle with a silver band, decorated with a vine pattern. Once everyone had reeled their jaws back , Tenten couldn't help but ask the questions on everyone's minds.

"Where'd you get that, and how much did it cost you?" she demanded, Ryuden chuckled mirthlessly, again.

"if I'm right, then you want to get one" he said as he moved over to Naruto to start his array.

"well, I use seals a lot, and that looks like it's a quality tool" she replied, shrugging.

"it more than looks it" he said as he stared to draw on Naruto, black, even lines appearing from the clear white bristles, preempting the question he explained, "a storage seal is inscribe in the silver joiner, and it is filled with ink, I channel chakra into the seal to slowly leak the ink out, which I then control with my chakra to travel along certain bristles on the brush, helping me to make it neat and exact without having to stop and re-ink the brush" everyone nodded in comprehension, before settling down to watch Ryuden work. After a few minutes of simply watching, Hinata realized something.

"h-hey" she said softly, trying not to cause Ryuden any problems by breaking his concentration, he nodded to show he was listening, even though his eyes, and hands, never left the work of sealing. "w-well, I d-don't mean to distract you, or anything, b-but you never did tell us where you g-got that brush, or the price of it".

"Don't worry about it" he replied coolly "I prefer to talk while I work, anyways" he paused for a moment, looking at his brush fondly, before continuing his work, and the conversation. "I'm unaware of how much this costs, as it was a homemade gift" he didn't even have to look to know he was getting skeptical looks from the girls, he chuckled again "it's true, honestly. But forget the price, for me; the real value comes in its meaning. I'm not usually a sentimental person, but this brush is actually my first birthday present ever, I got it when I turned 10"

A stunned silence overcame the group; no one really knew what to say to that. Naruto himself couldn't help but feel for Ryuden; after all, he knew how that felt. Letting the silence settle, Ryuden made quick work of his seal. In almost no time he'd constructed a confusing maze of ink, one no one present could understand, that sprawled across Narutos back. The only thing that Tenten could recognize was a barrier seal that stretched around Narutos front to encircle the death god seal, making it immune to the dispelling seal.

"well, that's about it" Ryuden stood back and ran a critical eye over his work, nodding to himself, took a step towards Naruto and prepared to activate it. "now once I activate this, you'll probably be comatose for a day or so. The memories that have been repressed by the mental seals will be released and you'll have to live through them in your mind. You may also find that your personality changes somewhat" Naruto nodded an affirmative, inwardly resolving to stay as much the same as he can, unknowingly sharing the thoughts of every other occupant of the room.

Ryuden took a deep breath, gathering his chakra; he began a series of hand seals that he slowly performed, careful not to make any mistakes. Reaching the final hand seal, he allowed his chakra to flow into his hands before slamming them between Narutos shoulder blades. The group watched in amazement as the ink glowed an ominous red, Narutos mouth opened in a silent scream of pain as the lines and letters of the seal sucked themselves across his skin, condensing under Ryuden's hands. In only a few seconds, the whole array had disappeared. Naruto slumped forward, completely unconscious, the only sign of the seal a small tattoo of a fully black and glaring Kyuubi. Ryuden himself fell backwards, not even moving to stop his fall, he was barely caught by Tsunade, who placed him down gently.

"You alright?" she asked, Ryuden chuckled, of course the medical expert would be the first to ask.

"Yeah" replied Ryuden, looking at the still worried Kunoichi, he elaborated "you see, I use a special ink, one no one else does" he paused for a breath, and found that despite having the girls attention, Tenten was almost unnerving the way she stared at him. "It's a special solution I made, its extremely strong and helps reinforce the seals power. But thanks to the extreme potency, it also backlashes on more complex and/or chakra intensive seals, leaving me temporarily paralyzed, I'd say for about 10 minutes" The girls all relaxed visibly, but Tsunade was still a little worried.

"So there's absolutely nothing to worry about?" she asked.

"Well" said Ryuden dismissively, "unless we're attacked in the next 10 minutes, then yes. Besides, what would the odds be of us being att-" Ryuden was suddenly interrupted as an explosion rocked the house.

"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT!" yelled Tsunade, she turned to Hinata, but she had already activated her Byakugan.

"S-someone is j-just outside, t-they appear to be injured" announced Hinata, everyone looked to Tsunade for orders, and she quickly looked over the occupants of the room.

"looks like its our job to protect the boys, lets go" she ordered, Tsunade then spun and ran out the door, followed quickly by the other Kunoichi.

-0o0-

Anko yawned tiredly as she jumped from branch to branch aimlessly, these long term assassinations were a drag. _Seriously,_ she thought to herself, three chunins? No probs. All with bloodlines? Not so good, but not to threatening, three coinciding bloodlines that could significantly strengthen the others attacks, and teamwork that would make Kakashi applaud? _I hate that fucking council. _And for good reason to, she had just finished another near suicidal mission, was running low on chakra, and had received a message to meet with a contact in the woods near The Great Naruto Bridge. Anko sighed, she remembered the last time the council had tried to be rid of her, paying for some shinobi to ambush her. Anko froze as she landed, it was exactly like today. No exact meeting place or time. Her, exhausted from a hard mission. All this in an area known to not have many shinobi passing through it. She immediately went on guard, focusing all her senses on the surrounding forest, and luckily for her not a moment too soon. She leapt back quickly, barely avoiding a hail of senbon, kunai and shuriken that buried into the branch from four different directions. She landed in a crouch and glared at where the attacks had come from.

"Kukuku" laughed a smooth voice, Anko shivered, no, it couldn't be him. "it seems our lovely little hebi-hime has determined our positions" without another word, the four shinobi jumped out of hiding, landing on a branch not 30 meters away. Much to Anko's relief, it wasn't Orochi-teme, but she was still far from safe.

The man she had thought to be Orochimaru was just as pale as the sannin, and even wore the same style of outfit; the only difference was the color, his being a darker grey, so much so it was almost black. His long black hair fell loosely around his face, landing lightly on his shoulders, and she guessed he'd be about Kakashi's height; he was looking down at her with a smirk.

The man to his left was only slightly shorter, but half a foot of that was brown spiky hair. She couldn't help but remember the hidden rain ninja from the chunin exams when she looked at his outfit. His straight jacket like outfit was black, as well as his eye mask and rebreather, he stood, slight hunched over, eying her warily.

To his left was a girl half a foot shorter than him, she had dark green hair that was tied back in a ponytail and reached her shoulder blades. She wore very light leather armor, dyed black, with many pockets for weapons and two katana in an X across her back. She stood confidently, but looked at her with boredom.

To her left was a man almost two feet taller, he had a relitivly bulky frame, made up of bulging muscle. he wore a simple dark grey cloak, it was both loose and light, allowing for unhindered movement. His silver hair was brushed back formally (like Hidans) and he stood casually, but looked to be ready for anything.

"let me guess" said Anko calmly, though her eyes betrayed her real anger, "you were sent by the council of konoha, they say im a security threat and need to be eliminated" the pale man she determined to be the leader chuckled again.

"Kukuku, I guess this isn't the first attempt then" he said smoothly, "but considering who you are, I guess it's only natural that they be wary of you" he saw Anko tense slightly, and knew he'd struck a nerve. "well as fun as this conversation is, we have a job to do", Anko's only response was to flick her wrist, detonating a smoke bomb at her feet. the smoke soon cleared and revealed that Anko had dissappeared, but she had left a rather obvious trail of broken branches and disturbed leaves. The four shinobi leapt after her at top speed, and not even a minute later, caught site of her. The green hair girl retrived a kunia and, with perfect precision, hit Anko directly in the back of the neck. For a split second, they thought it was over, before she disappeared in a cloud white smoke.

"crap" grunted the large silver hair nin as they came to a stop, "she used a shadow clone to lay a false trail, I knew it was to easy to follow her"

"so like, what now?" asked the green haired Kunoichi.

"kukuku, don't worry, I've got it covered" chuckled the pale one again. He raised an arm and let a small snake slithered from his sleeve.

"what isss it you wisssh of me" it hissed.

"I need you to find a scent, a girl, should smell of snakes", the snake nodded and swayed it's head to and fro, tounge constantly flicking in and out.

"yessss" it hissed after only a moment of searching. "her scent is here, and I can also smell her close by, on an almost parallel path" the snakes master nodded to him with a smirk.

"good job, can you lead us there?" the snake nodded an affirmative, it crawled onto his masters shoulder, and lead them to their target.

-0o0-

Anko panted heavily, her legs burned as she forced herself to keep jumping, the recently dispelled clones memories fresh in her mind. Making the clone had been a strain on her, but It was worth it for her escape, and having headed almost the same way as said clone, her pursuers would have a harder time finding her practically non-existent trail next to her clones more obvious one. so needless to say, being so confident in her strategy, she absolutely shit herself when a kunai nicked her ear. She cast a disbelieving glance back, and nimbly dodged a trio of shuriken thrown by the other Kunoichi. Said girl unleashed another wave of thrown weapons, which much to her chagrin, Anko dodged. Her friends soon joined in the attack, throwing the deadly projectiles in hopes of hitting the fleeing figure, and not having much luck. Anko writhed and twisted to dodge any attacks, showing an amazing amount of flexibility and skill, even managing to keep ahead of them. Soon enough though, one of them snapped.

"oh fuck this" growled the girl, she drew a kunai and attached an exploding note to it, and then another, and another. Soon she had five exploding notes attached to it, her teams eyes widened as she grinned viciously, the weapon was thrown, and her team did the only thing they could, fall to the forest floor and hide behind trees.

The kunai whipped past Anko as she leapt again, and embedded itself hilt deep in the branch she would land on. Too late did Anko see the notes, she was in midair, and unable to stop, the notes flared to life, indicating their imminent detonation. Anko acted on instinct, she brought her hands together and forced all her chakra into the shushin.

Appearing almost a hundred meters away, Anko was still blown off her feet by the force. She was completely spent, she had no chakra left, and her muscles burned, she curled into a protective ball as her back was littered with splinters. Tumbling through the air, she was barely able to brace herself as she collided with the ground, luckily enough, she hit feet first, and instinctively she rolled forward, using the movement to lessen the impacted . she rolled along painfully, the splinters in her back being driven furthur in with the motion, before coming to an abrupt halt against some sort of wall, the impact driving the air out of her. Sucking in a greedy breath, she growled to herself, the pain was nothing, she'd delt with worse, but completely spending her chakra reserves left her feeling useless, and she hated. She heard four sets of feet approaching, and knew that this was the end, her only alternative was using HIS mark, but she'd much rather die. Forcing her eyes to open, she set a determined look on her face, which almost instantly fell into surprise.

-0o0-

"Anko?" shouted Tsunade, the slug sannin ran straight to anko's side, hands already glowing for a healing justu as the three other girls took up defensive positions around her. Anko merely looked up at her, to stunned to talk, she had no hope of survival, and a sanin just shows up? She couldn't believe it. And yet, despite the odds, she could feel Tsunades healing chakra flow into her, only enough to put her on par with, say, a civilian, but it was there, and it was comforting.

"Anko, what happened?" asked Tsunade.

"the council….s-set me up" Anko whispered, "on the way back….from a mission… I was meant to meet some contacts….it was an ambush….four ninja" Tsunade nodded.

"just stay here, we'll deal with it" Anko nodded, Tsunade helped her to a sitting position, where Anko readied a kunai for defense, before moving to stand with the other girls. "Hinata, there are four enemy shinobi nearby, try and locate them" the young Hyuga girl nodded and, with a whisper of 'byakugan', searched the surrounding area in an instant.

"they're hiding directly in front of us, five meters back from the tree line, and thirty five meters from our current position" Tsunade nodded, thanking Kami that she had decided to let both Hinata and Tenten come with them, otherwise they'd be in a spot of trouble. Stepping in front of the others, Tsunade crossed her arms and raised her chin, looking at the spot she assumed the four enemies to be in.

"you might as well come out, we know you're position" Tsunade shouted, hoping to draw the enemy out into the open.

"Kukuku" the vile laugh sent a shiver down Tsunades spine, the four shinobi jumped down to the earth, now only twenty meters away, revealing most all of their features in the dim light cast by the porches light. Tsunade was relieved to see it wasn't her former team mate, but considering who they were, this would still be close.

"ah, now what are you doing out here tsunade-hime?" hissed the sannin look alike, Tsunade ignored him, instead deciding to inform her team of their opposition.

"alright girls, im not gonna lie, this is bad" Shizune nodded in agreement, she recognize them from her bingo book.

"ano, who are they?" asked Hinata shyly, Shizune looked over to her and Tenten, both of them looked nervous, and she knew telling them the truth would just make it worse, but they need to know.

"they are a team of four missing-nin from various villages" said Shizune quickly, "The large man with silver hair is a mid C-rank missing nin from Iwa, his name is Tetsu, of the Hagane clan. He has a bloodline called Hagane no Kawa (literally means steel skin) , that allows him to make his skin harder than steel, it provides protection from low to mid physical attacks. The green haired kunoichi is Tsuin Ken, a high C-rank missing nin from the grass village , and specializes in all sorts of weapons, but mainly uses kenjutsu with her twin scimitar. The other man, the one with brown hair, is Mizu supaiku, a mid b-Rank missing nin from the hidden rain village, he specializes in mid to long range water jutsu and backs it up with thrown weapons." Shizune paused for breath , she kept herself alert for any movement, but her eyes focused on the last shinobi staring them down. "and that _man, _is the biggest threat. His name is Sanran Hebi, he's an old follower of Orochimaru, he's ranked as an A rank missing nin from grass, he fights using the hebi style, and has had altercations made to his body like that of Orochimaru himself, he-" Shizune was cut off as a sick laugh came from the man now known as Sanran.

"Kukuku, having a little history lesson, eh Shizune-chan?" he chuckled, "preparing the girls beside you for battle no doubt, meaning there isn't any chance of you simply giving Anko-hime to us, then" the kunoichi opposing him shook their heads, even the two young ones, though obviously scared, seemed to harden their resolve and set their stance. With a sigh, Sanran nodded to Tsuin, who, with a blurred flick of her wrist, sent four precisely aimed kunai flying toward the girls, forcing them to jump away, and apart. "I'll take Tsunade, your three can have your pick" the others nodded as Sanran jumped towards the Sannin.

0o0

There ya go, sorry for the slight cliffy there. I decided to leave the fight scene for the next chapter so I suppose it's something to look forward to.


	5. fighting for life

**Hey all, I'm back. Hope you all like this chapter, finally a bit of action****.**

**Hinata landed unsteadily, though it looked as though she had easily avoided the weapon, the truth was she had barly avoided it.**

"**Looks like I get the easy pickings" said an almost sad voice. She looked up, frightened at the man before her, Tetsu sighed again, "I was looking forward to a fight between bloodlines, but it seems I won't be getting any challenge out of this. I'll just slaughter you, then your friends, then throw your bodies into the house and burn it to the ground, fun, but not challenging….well, except for Tsunade". Tetsu nodded, seeming to have made his mind up, it was a good plan, and would be quite satisfying, though as he said before, mostly unchallenging. He decided the he may as well start; he put his focus back on the young Hyuuga, and noticed something that made him smile. Her look of fear was gone, in its place was a determined look, unfaltering, even in the presence of a chunin level opponent. **

"**Hmm, maybe I was wrong" he chuckled "you do have a bit of backbone in you" the only response he got was a stiff 'Byakugan' from the normally timid girl. Taking this as her answer, Tetsu smirked as he raised put his hands together in a tiger seal, Hinata stared as she watched Tetsu's chakra shifted about rapidly, she noticed some of it seeped into his skin and, when she focused back on his Skin, that it had taken on a light sheen, allowing light to reflect off it lightly.**

"**I'm g-guessing that's your c-clans bloodline, the Hagane no Kawa" stuttered Hinata, getting a grin and a nod as a response, Hinata decided to see how her gentle fist faired against his skin. Hinata rushed in at Tetsu, and managed to slid under a massive right hand roundhouse that left Tetsu off balance, with only his right foot on the ground, his left had risen in accordance to his momentum. It was in this gap Hinata struck, using her momentum to slid in on his right side and land two clean hits on tenketsu, one at Tetsu's shoulder, and one at his lung. The instant she struck, Hinata knew it was useless,**** her chakra, instead of being forced into tetsu's chakra points, rolled off his now metaloid skin, dissipating into the Air. A smirk made it's way onto tetsu's face as he brought his left foot down to the ground and used it as a pivot point to swing around for a left hand straight punch. Seeing it through her Byakugan, Hinata managed to lean back and allow the fist to sail over her head. Unfortunately, this left her open, and Tetsu's continued to spin around, bringing up his left leg for devastating kick to Hinata's ribs, which sent her flying. Hinata grunted as she flew over the ground, gravity bringing her down to bounce every so often, until she crashed through some bush by the edge of the clearing.**

**"Oops" chuckled Tetsu, "guess I put to much power into that" he cracked his neck lightly before making his way towards where Hinata disappeared into the underbrush. Hinata managed to get to her feet and stumble out of the bushes to lean on a nearby tree, feeling her ribs gently, wincing every so often as she felt what was surely a few broken ribs**

**She looked up and saw Tetsu making his way towards her. She reached into one of her pouches and grabbed a handful of shuriken; she withdrew them and hurled the lot straight at the metaloid shinobi. Tetsu chuckled heartily as the normally deadly projectiles flew at him, he lifted his head, allowing the shuriken to bounce off his body and exposed neck. Tetsu smiled as he lowered his head, levelling a gaze at Hinata, he continued to walk towards her, enjoying the terror he was inducing from the frozen Hyuuga heiress. Frozen, however, Hinata was not, the cogs in her mind spinning as something clicked into place. The action of Tetsu raising his head was to expose his neck and show that she couldn't even damage such a weak and vital area, to bring forth doubt and uncertainty, but thanks to her Byakugan, she had caught a glimpse of something, Tetsu had closed his eyes when the shuriken struck. It could have been a natural reaction, but if he was truly impervious to her attacks, would he have not felt safe to keep his eyes open? Hinata squeaked in terror at Tetsu, whom she realized was now but two metres away, and stumbled backwards, falling through the light bush she has been in before. Tetsu openly laughed as he followed her through the bush and into a small area free of bush where hinata sat terrified, on the far side of the mini clearing infront of a wall of bush. Tetsu smiled as he stepped over to hinata, where he leaned down over her, gazing deeply into the pale eyes of the heiress.**

**"tis a shame I must kill you, you would of had such a life" he said casually, "luckily for you, I have some chivalry, anyother might have had some fun with you, I am not a rapist, but I am a shinobi, and I have a job to do so..." and with that trailed off sentence, he drew a kunia. He raised his hand above him, and in a flash it was done, blood spilled from the wound, trailing down to the weapons end to splash upon the ground, staining it forever crimson.**

**0_0**

**Tenten didn't waste a single moment as she landed. With a quick, practiced motion brought the two scrolls Tenten hadn't left inside into her hands from a holder hidden under her shirt, behind her back. All the while never taking her eyes off the fast approaching enemy Kunoichi, who had already drawn her twin swords. Tenten quickly place the scrolls beside her and activated the storage seals on them, releasing a five foot pile of shuriken, kunai, senbon needles, small throwing axes, small one handed scythes and even some rapiers and windmill shuriken. Tsuin's eyes bulged at the sheer number of weapons, Tenten smirked, before expertly grabbed several weapons from a pile and threw them straight at Tsuin. Tsuin instantly noticed that the weapons were thrown in a distinct way, spread out enough to make dodging extremely difficult , but close enough together to cause anyone who attempted to deflect them to be overwhelmed before they could all be deflected.**

**Tsuin gritted her teeth in annoyance as she brought her hands together, letting the seemingly featureless ends of the swords collide, where they stuck together. The thrown weapons, which were only standard thrown shinobi weapons, had covered almost the whole distance between the two Kunoichi by this time. Tsuin quickly started to spin her joined swords, making a giant windmill shield in front of her, using chakra to create a small shield around her hands, protecting what had been the easiest target for Tenten to hit. The weapons mistress growled as her weapons were harmlessly deflected, she scooped up another few shuriken and threw them, never giving the other girl a chance to stop and or escape as she repeated this process. For several minutes Tenten pinned down Tsuin with her weapons, until finally, she reached for a weapon to find none left. her eyes widened in surprise as Tsuin, whom despite having used a lot of chakra in her defence, quickly disconnected her weapons and sprinted toward her. Tenten drew out two standard kunai she kept on her person at all times, and readied herself for the attacked. Tsuin came at Tenten with both arms crossed over her front in an X shape, the katanas blades reaching out behind her. Once within reach, she threw her arms out, bringing her swords in like scissors at Tenten's neck. **

**She managed to bring her arms up in time to deflect the blades over her head, but failed to even notice the powerful jumping knee strike that was sent into her chin until it sent her flying painfully through the air. Tsuin landed gracefully, while Tenten landed solidly on her back, the landing jarring the breath out of her. She gasped and coughed for air, but made no voluntary movement. Tsuin smirked as she almost strolled over to Tenten's disabled form, she sheathed one of her swords, leaving the other in her right hand. She kneeled down next to tentens head, she raised her sword above the wild eyed Tenten, who's desperate attempts to move resulted in but twitches. With a smirk, Tsuin drove her sword down sharply, point aimed at Tenten's next. The Kunoichi's eyes widened in shock, she gurgled something incoherent, even as the light faded from her eyes, and she joined her already fallen comrade.**

**OoO**

**Shizune landed in a crouch, eyes concentrated on Mizu, as he ran towards her. He came to a halt 20 metres back, his hands flashing through hand signs.**

**"water style: sudden down pour" he said in a stoic voice, as soon as he'd said it, water appeared around them in a 30 metre radius, with Mizu as the centre, and fell to the ground. The air was notable drier, and despite the blanket of water that had fallen, Mizu was completely dry, but Shizune was soaked. She realized instantly the danger she was in, she leapt back, out of the wet area, while simultaneously push a small amount of chakra out of her body from every chakra point, propelling the water off her. Barely a moment later, the water she'd repelled imploded on itself, before splashing down into the water. As she landed, Shizune couldn't help but let the move remind her of Garra's desert coffin technique, she obviously wasn't going anywhere near Mizu, and with his rebreather on, her poison gas techniques were useless. As bad as the situation seemed though, Shizune smiled, she could just leave to go and help one of the other girls, and when he left his 'safe area' to stop her, she'd ambush him. There was, however, one thing that stopped this plan of action, that being Mizu.**

**"secret technique: marooned" said Mizu as he formed a strange handsign. Suddenly, the water that surrounded him shot out in a ring. The suddenness had caught her off guard, but she had managed to jump over the rush of water. as Shizune landed, she knew something had change, a quick glance around her confirmed her suspicions, she was now surrounded completely by water.**

**"well shit" said Shizune, getting a chuckle from Mizu. The water shinobi took a deep breath and focused, he flung his arms up, causing the ring of water to jump up into a large, but thin dome over them. Mizu waved his arms about, manipulating the water, forcing it to shrink, becoming centralized around Shizune, with him standing in the now much thicker water dome. Shizune held his gaze steadily, she could not escape, and she knew what was coming, a variation of Garra's sand coffin, no doubt. Mizu gave her a barely perceptible nod of respect, before he raised his arm and closed his fist tight. "water style: kraken crush"**

…**.r&r please**


End file.
